The magical power of art: artistic image. "The magical power of art

A lot of words have been spent to denote or illustrate the notorious power of what we call art, in our case literature. They are looking for the roots of this influence, going through the technical details of the letter (which is, of course, important), building theories, inventing models, fighting with schools and opinions of authorities, calling on the spirits of ancient deities and calling on new-fangled experts to help... But how this happens remains completely incomprehensible.

More precisely, there is a science called literary criticism, there is a current theory of reading, there is a hypothesis about different forms the psychoactivity of the person writing, as well as the person reading, but somehow they don’t get to the main point. It seems to me that if we got there, the solution to this riddle, like the discovery of nuclear physics, would change our understanding of ourselves in a matter of years.

And only the most “strange” of theorists know that the power of art lies in the fact that it does not shovel a person’s experience from bottom to top, it, as it were, completes it without conflicting with it, and miraculously transforms this experience, which many considered hardly necessary, but then completely unusable rubbish, into new knowledge, if you like - into wisdom.

WINDOW TO WISDOM

When I was just planning to write this book and told a publisher I knew about it, he was very surprised: “Why do you,” he asked, “think that writing a novel is the only way out? It’s better to let them read books, it’s much easier.” In his own way, he was, of course, right.

Reading, of course, is simpler, easier and more enjoyable. Actually, that’s what people do - they read, finding in the world of these Scarlett and Holmes, Frodo and Conan, Brugnon and the Turbins all the experiences, ideas, consolation and partial solutions to problems that are significant to them.

Yes, I read the book, you experience the same thing as the author. But only ten to twenty times weaker!

And recognizing reading as a very powerful tool, let’s still try to imagine what we can achieve if we ourselves develop the score of the notorious “meditation”? And then we “arrange” everything ourselves, as is expected in such cases? Of course, without losing sight of the fact that we are doing this in full accordance with our own, deeply PERSONAL ideas about the problem?...

Did you imagine? Yes, I also have a hard time imagining, only to a small extent guessing, the effect that a properly organized and well-written book can have on the author. I am a novelist, a connoisseur of texts and people who work professionally with books, I have to admit that I do not know how, why and to what extent this happens. But I can vouch for the fact that it works with stunning power, that sometimes it radically changes the being of the author.

Of course, everything is a little more complicated than I’m portraying here. There is no difference between novel and novel, and there is also a difference between author and author. Sometimes among writers you come across such “radishes” that you are simply amazed, but they write like a nightingale - easily, loudly, convincingly, beautifully! The whole point, probably, is that without novels they would be even worse, they would do evil deeds or turn into downright unhappy people, making their family and friends unhappy.

In any case, I argue that the novel, the very writing of this seemingly completely optional monograph, serves as a means of changing the author’s personality, attracting the rarest property of psychological changeability, or rather, metamorphic creativity. Because it is a kind of window to the truth, opened into oneself. And how we will use this tool, what we will see in the window, what wisdom we will be able to obtain as a result - this, as they say, God knows. All life is built on the fact that everyone is only responsible for themselves, isn’t it?

Composition

Composition

Magic power art

Art enriches our lives. And one of its types—literature—meets us at the very beginning of our life’s journey and remains forever. The book, like caring parents, educates and teaches us. By reading fairy tales as children, we learn to distinguish good from evil, truth from lies, virtue from meanness.

Literature teaches you to feel, understand, and empathize. After all, every book makes us think about what the author wanted to convey with his work. What thought did he put into his creation? By getting to know new characters, understanding their feelings and thoughts, we begin to better understand the people around us, and most importantly, ourselves. It is not without reason that many great cultural and scientific figures, in moments of emotional excitement, took in their hands fiction. They found peace and satisfaction in it. Books can help you find the right one life path, looking for which we often get confused.

But these are not all the advantages of literature. Thanks to her, we learned a lot of necessary and useful information. For example, very few sources were preserved about the campaign of Prince Igor, and the literary work “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” shed light on many unknown facts.

By describing the life and customs of his century, the writer helps us form a picture of the time.

The book can even influence the course of the reader’s real life. For example, after reading Sholokhov’s story “The Fate of a Man,” many people whose lives were similar to the fate of the hero of this work perked up and found the strength to live on.

I think that's the point great power art of literature.

What is the magical power of art? What role does it play in a person’s life? Is it true that art reflects the soul of a people? The author of the text proposed for analysis, writer V. Konetsky, tries to answer these and other questions. For example, reflecting on the uniqueness of Russian painting, he draws attention to the work of such artists as Savrasov, Levitan, Serov, Korovin, Kustodiev. “These names hide not only the eternal joy of life in art. It is Russian joy that is hidden, with all its tenderness, modesty and depth. And just as a Russian song is simple, painting is so simple,” notes the author. He emphasizes that the work of these artists reflects the worldview of our people, their ability to enjoy beauty native nature, the ability to appreciate its simplicity and unpretentiousness, to find harmony where others do not feel it.

Art for a person is also a kind of lifeline, because it is not only a means of self-expression, but also the force that connects us with history and culture home country, does not allow you to forget its vastness, time after time reminding everyone how beautiful Russia is. V. Konetsky considers this property of genuine art to be very important, because it helps people realize their involvement in their history, their people, their Fatherland: “In our century, artists should not forget all the more about one simple function of art - to awaken and illuminate in a fellow tribesman a sense of homeland ."

Works of painting, literature, music also have a very important role that cannot be ignored. To summarize, the writer expresses confidence: “Art is art when it evokes in a person a feeling of happiness, albeit fleeting.”

I agree with the author’s point of view: true art will always find a way to touch the strings of our soul, to reach even the hardest heart. It can lift a person who has lost hope from his knees and even save his life.

Thus, art revived the desire to live in the hero of L. Tolstoy’s epic novel “War and Peace.” Nikolai Rostov, losing to Dolokhov at cards a large amount, I just didn’t see a way out of this situation. The gambling debt must be paid, but such huge money the young officer did not have one. In this situation, he had, perhaps, the only option for the development of events - suicide. The hero of the novel was distracted from his dark thoughts by his sister’s voice. Natasha was learning a new aria. At that moment, Nikolai, enchanted by the music, enchanted by the beauty of Natasha’s voice, forgot about the problems that just a minute ago seemed insoluble to him. He listened to the singing and was only worried about whether the girl would hit the top note. Her gentle voice and the charm of the magical melody brought Nikolai back to life: the hero realized that, in addition to adversity and sadness, there is beauty and happiness in the world, and for them it is worth living. This is what real art does!

It also saved Sue, the heroine of O’Henry’s story “The Last Leaf.” The girl, who fell ill with pneumonia, completely lost hope of recovery. Watching the ivy fall outside the window, she decides that she will die when it falls from its branch. last sheet OK. An old neighbor, the artist Berman, having learned about her intentions from the heroine’s friend, decides to deceive fate. At night, during the cold autumn rain and strong wind, he creates his own main picture, a real masterpiece: draws a small ivy leaf on brick wall houses opposite. In the morning, Sue sees how the brave last leaf bravely fought the storm all night. The girl also decides to pull herself together and believe in life. She is recovering thanks to the power of love that she put into her work. old artist, and therefore, thanks to art. It is this that gives her the opportunity to live on, believe in herself and be happy.

Thus, art plays a vital role in our lives. It gives you the opportunity to express your feelings and thoughts, unites a variety of people, and helps you live.

Effective preparation for the Unified State Exam (all subjects) -

A work of art can capture the attention of the viewer, reader, or listener in two ways. One is determined by the “what” question, the other by the “how” question.

“What” is the object that is depicted in the work, a phenomenon, event, theme, material, i.e. what is called the content of the work. When we're talking about about things that interest a person, this naturally gives rise to a desire in him to delve into the meaning of what was said. However, a work that is rich in content does not necessarily have to be a work of art. Philosophical, scientific, socio-political works can be no less interesting than artistic ones. But their task is not to create artistic images (although they may sometimes turn to them). If a work of art attracts a person’s interest solely by its content, then in this case its (the work’s) artistic merits fade into the background. Then even a less artistic depiction of what is vitally important to a person can deeply hurt his feelings. With undemanding taste, a person can be completely satisfied with this. A keen interest in the events described allows lovers of detective stories or erotic novels to emotionally experience these events in their imagination, despite the ineptness of their description, the stereotypedness or wretchedness of the artistic means used in the work.

True, in this case, artistic images turn out to be primitive, standard, weakly stimulating the independent thought of the viewer or reader and giving rise to only more or less stereotyped complexes of emotions.

Another way related to the question “how” is the form of a work of art, that is, the ways and means of organizing and presenting content. This is where the “magic power of art” lurks, which processes, transforms and presents the content of a work so that it is embodied in artistic images. The material or theme of a work in itself can be neither artistic nor non-fictional. An artistic image is composed of the material that makes up the content of a work of art, but it is formed only thanks to the form in which this material is clothed.

Let's consider characteristic features artistic image.

The most important feature of an artistic image is that it expresses an emotional and value-based attitude towards the object. Knowledge about an object serves only as a background against which the experiences associated with this object emerge.

I. Ehrenburg in the book “People, Years, Life” talks about his conversation with the French painter Matisse. Matisse asked Lydia, his assistant, to bring a sculpture of an elephant. I saw, writes Ehrenburg, a Negro sculpture, very expressive, the sculptor carved an angry elephant from wood. “Do you like it?” asked Matisse. I answered: “Very much.” - “And nothing bothers you?” - “No.” - "Me too. But then a European, a missionary, arrived and began to teach the black man: “Why do elephants have tusks raised up?” An elephant can lift its trunk, but its tusks can lift its teeth, they don’t move.” “The Negro listened...” Matisse called again: “Lydia, please bring another elephant.” Chuckling slyly, he showed me a figurine similar to those sold in European department stores: “The tusks are in place, but the art is over.” The African sculptor, of course, sinned against the truth: he depicted the elephant not as it really is. But if he made an anatomically accurate sculptural copy of the animal, it is unlikely that the person looking at it would be able to experience, experience, “feel” the impression of the sight of an angry elephant. The elephant is in a frenzy, its trunk is thrown up, it is all in violent movement, raised up. The tusks, the most menacing part of his body, seem ready to fall on the victim. By moving them from their usual normal position, the sculptor creates an emotional tension in the viewer, which is a sign that. artistic image gives rise to a response in his soul.

From the example considered, it is clear that an artistic image is not just an image as a result of the reflection of external objects arising in the psyche. Its purpose is not to reflect reality as it is, but to evoke human soul experiences associated with its perception. It is not always easy for the viewer to express in words what he is experiencing. When looking at an African figurine, this may be an impression of the power, fury and fury of an elephant, a feeling of danger, etc. Different people the same thing can be perceived and experienced differently. Much depends here on the subjective characteristics of the individual, on his character, views, and values. But, in any case, a work of art can evoke experiences in a person only when it includes his imagination in the work. An artist cannot make a person experience certain feelings simply by naming them. If he simply tells us that we should have such and such feelings and moods, or even describes them in detail, then it is unlikely that we will have them. He excites experiences by modeling means artistic language the reasons that gave rise to them, i.e., clothing these reasons in some kind of art form. An artistic image is a model of the cause that gives rise to emotions. If the model of the cause “works”, that is, the artistic image is perceived and recreated in the human imagination, then the consequences of this cause also appear - “artificially” evoked emotions. And then a miracle of art occurs - its magical power enchants a person and takes him to another life, to a world created for him by a poet, sculptor, singer. “Michelangelo and Shakespeare, Goya and Balzac, Rodin and Dostoevsky created models of sensory causes that are almost more stunning than those that life presents to us. That’s why they are called great masters.”

An artistic image is a “golden key” that starts the mechanism of experience. By recreating with the power of his imagination what is presented in a work of art, the viewer, reader, listener becomes, to a greater or lesser extent, a “co-author” of the artistic image contained in it.

In “objective” (fine) art - painting, sculpture, dramatic performance, film, novel or story, etc. - an artistic image is built on the basis of an image, a description of some phenomena that exist (or are presented as existing) in real world. The emotions evoked by such an artistic image are twofold. On the one hand, they relate to the content of the artistic image and express a person’s assessment of those realities (objects, items, phenomena of reality) that are reflected in the image. On the other hand, they refer to the form in which the content of the image is embodied, and express an assessment of the artistic merits of the work. Emotions of the first kind are “artificially” evoked feelings that reproduce experiences real events and phenomena. Emotions of the second kind are called aesthetic. They are associated with the satisfaction of human aesthetic needs - the need for values ​​such as beauty, harmony, proportionality. Aesthetic attitude is “an emotional assessment of how it is organized, constructed, expressed, embodied by form this content, and not the content itself."

An artistic image is essentially not so much a reflection of the phenomena of reality as an expression of them human perception, experiences associated with them, emotional and value-based attitude towards them.

But why do people need artificially evoked emotions, born in the process of perceiving artistic images? Don't they have enough experiences associated with their real life? To some extent this is true. A monotonous, monotonous life can cause “emotional hunger.” And then the person feels the need for some additional sources of emotions. This need pushes them to search for " thrills"in the game, in the deliberate pursuit of risk, in the voluntary creation of dangerous situations.

Art provides people with the opportunity to “extra lives” in the imaginary worlds of artistic images.

“Art “transferred” a person to the past and future, “resettled” him in other countries, allowed a person to “reincarnate” into another, to become for a time Spartacus and Caesar, Romeo and Macbeth, Christ and the Demon, even White Fang and The ugly duckling; it turned an adult into a child and an old man, it allowed everyone to feel and know what he could never comprehend and experience in his real life.”

The emotions that works of art evoke in a person do not just make his perception of artistic images deeper and more exciting. As shown by V.M. Allahverdov, emotions are signals coming from the area of ​​the unconscious to the sphere of consciousness. They signal whether the information received reinforces the “model of the world” that has developed in the depths of the subconscious, or, on the contrary, reveals its incompleteness, inaccuracy, and inconsistency. By “moving” into the world of artistic images and experiencing “additional lives” in it, a person receives ample opportunities checking and clarifying the “model of the world” that has developed in his head based on his narrow personal experience. Emotional signals break through the “protective belt” of consciousness and encourage a person to realize and change his previously unconscious attitudes.

This is why the emotions evoked by art play important role in people's lives. Emotional experiences of “extra lives” lead to expansion cultural outlook personality, enriching it spiritual experience and improving its existing “model of the world.”

We often hear how people, looking at a painting, admire its resemblance to reality (“The apple is just like a real one!”; “In the portrait he stands as if alive!”). The opinion that art - at least “objective” art - lies in the ability to achieve similarity between an image and the depicted is widespread. Even in antiquity, this opinion formed the basis of the “theory of imitation” (in Greek - mimesis), according to which art is an imitation of reality. From this point of view, aesthetic ideal there should be maximum similarity between the artistic image and the object. IN ancient Greek legend The audience was delighted by the artist who painted a bush with berries so similar that birds flocked to feast on them. And two and a half thousand years later, Rodin was suspected of having achieved amazing verisimilitude by covering a naked man with plaster, making a copy of him and passing it off as a sculpture.

But an artistic image, as can be seen from the above, cannot be simply a copy of reality. Of course, a writer or artist who sets out to depict any phenomena of reality must do it in such a way that readers and viewers can at least recognize them. But resemblance to what is depicted is not at all the main advantage of an artistic image.

Goethe once said that if an artist draws a poodle very similar, then one can rejoice at the appearance of another dog, but not a work of art. And Gorky about one of his portraits, which was different photographic precision, put it this way: “This is not my portrait. This is a portrait of my skin." Photographs, casts of hands and face, wax figures are designed to copy the originals as accurately as possible.

However, accuracy does not make them works of art. Moreover, the emotional and value-based nature of the artistic image, as has already been shown, presupposes a departure from dispassionate objectivity in the depiction of reality.

Artistic images are mental models of phenomena, and the similarity of a model with the object it reproduces is always relative: any model must be different from its original, otherwise it would simply be a second original, and not a model. “The artistic mastery of reality does not pretend to be reality itself - this distinguishes art from illusionistic tricks designed to deceive the eye and ear.”

By perceiving a work of art, we seem to “put aside the fact that the artistic image it bears does not coincide with the original. We accept the image as if it were the embodiment of a real object, we “agree” not to pay attention to its “fake character.” This is the artistic convention.

Artistic convention is a consciously accepted assumption in which an “unreal”, art-created cause of experience becomes capable of causing experiences that feel “just like real,” although we are aware that they are of artificial origin. “I will shed tears over fiction” - this is how Pushkin expressed the effect artistic convention.

When work of art gives rise to some emotions in a person, he not only experiences them, but also understands their artificial origin. Understanding their artificial origin helps them find relief in reflection. This allowed L.S. Vygotsky said: “The emotions of art are smart emotions". The connection with understanding and reflection distinguishes artistic emotions from emotions caused by real life circumstances.

V. Nabokov in his lectures on literature says: “In fact, all literature is fiction. All art is a deception... The world of any major writer is a world of fantasy with its own logic, its own conventions...” The artist misleads us, and we willingly succumb to deception. By expression French philosopher and writer J.-P. Sartre, the poet lies in order to tell the truth, that is, to arouse sincere, truthful experience. The outstanding director A. Tairov said jokingly that theater is a lie elevated to a system: “The ticket that the viewer buys is a symbolic agreement of deception: the theater undertakes to deceive the viewer; viewer, real good viewer, undertakes to succumb to deception and to be deceived... But the deception of art - it becomes true due to the authenticity of human feelings.”

There are various types of artistic conventions, including:

“denoting” - separates a work of art from environment. This task is served by the conditions that determine the area of ​​artistic perception - the stage of a theater, the pedestal of a sculpture, the frame of a painting;

“compensating” - introduces into the context of the artistic image the idea of ​​its elements that are not depicted in the work of art. Since the image does not coincide with the original, its perception always requires conjecture in the imagination of what the artist could not show or deliberately left unsaid.

This is, for example, the space-time convention in painting. The perception of the painting assumes that the viewer mentally imagines the third dimension, which is conventionally expressed by perspective on a plane, draws in his mind a tree cut off by the border of the canvas, introduces into the static image the passage of time and, accordingly, temporary changes, which are conveyed in the painting using some kind of conventional funds;

“accentuating” - emphasizes, enhances, exaggerates emotionally significant elements of the artistic image.

Painters often achieve this by exaggerating the size of the object. Modigliani paints women with unnaturally large eyes that extend beyond their faces. In Surikov’s painting “Menshikov in Berezovo,” the incredibly huge figure of Menshikov creates the impression of the scale and power of this figure, the former “ right hand» Petra;

“complementary” - increasing the variety of symbolic means of artistic language. This type of convention is especially important in “non-objective” art, where an artistic image is created without recourse to the depiction of any objects. Non-figurative symbolic means are sometimes not enough to construct an artistic image, and the “complementary” convention expands their range.

So, in classical ballet movements and postures, naturally associated with emotional experiences, are supplemented by conventional symbolic means of expressing certain feelings and states. In music of this kind, additional means are, for example, rhythms and melodies that give national flavor or are reminiscent of historical events.

The symbol represents special kind sign. The use of any sign as a symbol allows us, through the image of a specific, individual thing ( appearance symbol) to convey thoughts that are general and abstract in nature ( deep meaning character).

Turning to symbols opens up wide possibilities for art. With their help, a work of art can be filled with ideological content that goes far beyond those specific situations and the events that are directly depicted in it. Therefore, art, as a secondary modeling system, widely uses a variety of symbols. In the languages ​​of art, symbolic means are used not just in their direct meaning, but also in order to “encode” deep, “secondary” symbolic meanings.

From a semiotic point of view, an artistic image is a text that carries aesthetically designed, emotionally rich information. Through the use of symbolic language, this information is presented on two levels. At the first, it is expressed directly in the sensually perceived “fabric” of the artistic image - in the appearance of specific persons, actions, objects displayed in this image. On the second, it must be obtained by penetrating into symbolic meaning artistic image, through mental interpretation of its ideological content. Therefore, an artistic image carries within itself not only emotions, but also thoughts. Emotional impact An artistic image is determined by the impression that is made on us both by the information that we receive at the first level, through the perception of the description of specific phenomena directly given to us, and by the information that we capture on the second level through the interpretation of the symbolism of the image. Of course, understanding the symbolism requires additional intellectual effort. But this significantly enhances the emotional impressions made on us by artistic images.

The symbolic content of artistic images can be of a very different nature. But it is always present to some extent. Therefore, an artistic image cannot be reduced to what is depicted in it. He always “tells” us not only about this, but also about something else that goes beyond the specific, visible and audible object that is represented in it.

In the Russian fairy tale, Baba Yaga is not just an ugly old woman, but symbolic image death. The Byzantine dome of the church is not just architectural form roofs, and the symbol firmament. Gogol’s overcoat of Akaki Akakievich is not just clothing, but a symbolic image of the futility of a poor man’s dreams of a better life.

The symbolism of an artistic image can be based, firstly, on the laws of the human psyche.

Thus, people’s perception of color has an emotional modality associated with the conditions under which a particular color is usually observed in practice. Red color - the color of blood, fire, ripe fruits - excites a sense of danger, activity, erotic attraction, and the desire for the blessings of life. Green - the color of grass and foliage - symbolizes the growth of vitality, protection, reliability, tranquility. Black is perceived as absence bright colors life, it reminds of darkness, mystery, suffering, death. Dark purple - a mixture of black and red - evokes a heavy, gloomy mood.

Researchers of color perception, despite some differences in the interpretation of individual colors, come, basically, to similar conclusions about their psychological impact. According to Frieling and Auer, colors are characterized as follows.

Secondly, an artistic image can be built on symbolism historically established in a culture.

In the course of history it turned out that green became the color of the banner of Islam, and European artists, depicting a greenish haze behind the Saracens opposing the crusaders, symbolically pointing to the one lying in the distance Muslim world. IN Chinese painting green color symbolizes spring, and in the Christian tradition it sometimes acts as a symbol of stupidity and sinfulness (the Swedish mystic Swedenberg says that fools in hell have green eyes; one of the stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral shows a green-skinned and green-eyed Satan).

Another example. We write from left to right, and movement in that direction seems normal. When Surikov depicts the noblewoman Morozova on a sleigh traveling from right to left, her movement in this direction symbolizes a protest against accepted social attitudes. At the same time, on the map it is West on the left, East on the right. Therefore, in films about Patriotic War usually the enemy advances from the left, and Soviet troops- on the right.

Thirdly, when creating an artistic image, the author can give it a symbolic meaning based on his own associations, which sometimes unexpectedly illuminate familiar things from a new perspective.

The description of the contact of electrical wires here turns into a philosophical reflection on the synthesis (not just “plexus”!) of opposites, on the dead coexistence (as happens in family life without love) and the flash of life at the moment of death. Artistic images born of art often become generally accepted cultural symbols, a kind of standards for assessing the phenomena of reality. The title of Gogol's book "Dead Souls" is symbolic. Manilov and Sobakevich, Plyushkin and Korobochka - all this “ dead souls" The symbols were Pushkin's Tatyana, Griboyedov's Chatsky, Famusov, Molchalin, Goncharov's Oblomov and Oblomovism, Saltykov-Shchedrin's Judushka Golovlev, Solzhenitsyn's Ivan Denisovich and many other literary heroes. Without knowledge of the symbols that entered the culture from the art of the past, it is often difficult to understand the content modern works art. Art is thoroughly permeated with historical and cultural associations, and those who do not notice them often find the symbolism of artistic images inaccessible.

The symbolism of an artistic image can be created and captured both at the level of consciousness and subconsciously, “intuitively.” However, in any case it must be understood. This means that the perception of an artistic image is not limited to just an emotional experience, but also requires understanding and comprehension. Moreover, when the intellect comes into play when perceiving an artistic image, this strengthens and expands the effect of the emotional charge inherent in it. The artistic emotions experienced by a person who understands art are emotions organically associated with thinking. Here, in one more aspect, Vygotsky’s thesis is justified: “the emotions of art are intelligent emotions.”

It should also be added that in literary works ideological content is expressed not only in the symbolism of artistic images, but also directly in the mouths of the characters, in the author’s comments, sometimes expanding to entire chapters with scientific and philosophical reflections(Tolstoy in War and Peace, T. Mann in The Magic Mountain). This further demonstrates that it is impossible to reduce artistic perception exclusively to influence the sphere of emotions. Art requires both creators and consumers of their creativity not only emotional experiences, but also intellectual efforts.

Any sign, since its meaning can be set arbitrarily by a person, is capable of being a carrier different meanings. This also applies to verbal signs - words. As shown by V.M. Allahverdov, “it is impossible to list all the possible meanings of a word, because the meaning of this word, like any other sign, can be anything. The choice of meaning depends on the consciousness that perceives this word. But “the arbitrariness of the sign-meaning relationship” does not mean unpredictability. Meaning once given this sign, should continue to be firmly attached to this sign if the context of its appearance is preserved.” Thus, the context in which it is used helps us understand what a sign means.

When we set out to communicate knowledge about a subject to another, we try to ensure that the content of our message is understood unambiguously. In science, for this purpose, strict rules are introduced that determine the meaning of the concepts used and the conditions for their application. The context does not allow going beyond these rules. It is implied that the conclusion is based only on logic and not on emotions. Any secondary shades of meaning not specified by definitions are excluded from consideration. A textbook on geometry or chemistry must present facts, hypotheses and conclusions in such a way that all students studying it unambiguously and in full accordance with the author’s intentions perceive its content. Otherwise, we have a bad textbook. The situation is different in art. Here, as already mentioned, the main task is not to convey information about some objects, but to influence feelings, to arouse emotions, so the artist is looking for symbolic means that are effective in this regard. He plays with these means, connecting those elusive, associative shades of their meaning that remain outside strict logical definitions and whose appeal is not permissible in the context scientific proof. In order for an artistic image to make an impression, arouse interest, and awaken emotion, it is built with the help of non-standard descriptions, unexpected comparisons, vivid metaphors and allegories.

But people are different. They don't have the same life experience, different abilities, tastes, desires, moods. Writer picking up means of expression to create an artistic image, proceeds from his ideas about the strength and nature of their impact on the reader. He uses and evaluates them in the light of his views in a particular cultural context. This context is related to the era in which the writer lives social problems, which concern people in a given era, with the direction of interests and level of education of the public to which the author is addressing. And the reader perceives these means in his own cultural context. Various readers, based on your context and simply from your individual characteristics, can see the image created by the writer in their own way.

Nowadays people admire rock paintings animals made by the hands of nameless Stone Age artists, but when looking at them, they see and experience something completely different from what our distant ancestors saw and experienced. A non-believer may admire Rublev’s “Trinity,” but he perceives this icon differently than a believer, and this does not mean that his perception of the icon is incorrect.

If an artistic image evokes in the reader exactly those experiences that the author wanted to express, he (the reader) will experience empathy.

This does not mean that the experiences and interpretations of artistic images are completely arbitrary and can be anything. After all, they arise on the basis of the image, stem from it, and their character is determined by this image. However, this conditionality is not unambiguous. The connection between an artistic image and its interpretations is the same as that which exists between a cause and its consequences: the same cause can give rise to many consequences, but not any, but only those arising from it.

There are various interpretations of the images of Don Juan, Hamlet, Chatsky, Oblomov and many others. literary heroes. In L. Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina, the images of the main characters are described with amazing vividness. Tolstoy, like no one else, knows how to present his characters to the reader in such a way that they become, as it were, his close acquaintances. It would seem that the appearance of Anna Arkadyevna and her husband Alexei Alexandrovich, their peace of mind, revealed to us to the very depths. However, readers may have different attitudes towards them (and in the novel, people treat them differently). Some approve of Karenina's behavior, others consider it immoral. Some people absolutely do not like Karenin, others see him as an extremely worthy person. Tolstoy himself, judging by the epigraph of the novel (“Vengeance is mine and I will repay”), seems to condemn his heroine and hint that she is suffering just retribution for her sin. But at the same time, in essence, with the entire subtext of the novel, he evokes compassion for her. What is higher: the right to love or marital duty? There is no clear answer in the novel. You can sympathize with Anna and blame her husband, or you can do the opposite. The choice is up to the reader. And the field of choice is not limited to only two extreme options - there are probably countless intermediate ones.

So, any full-fledged artistic image is polysemantic in the sense that it allows for the existence of many different interpretations. They are, as it were, potentially embedded in it and reveal its content when it is perceived from different points of view and in different cultural contexts. Not empathy, but co-creation is what is necessary to understand the meaning of a work of art, and, moreover, an understanding associated with the personal, subjective, individual perception and experience of the artistic images contained in the work.

Legend, Russian Charlie Chaplin, master of satire and impersonation - Arkady Raikin, an inimitable comedian, actor and director, passed away 30 years ago. Raikin was the most popular person in the USSR from the early 1960s to the late 1980s. The audience instantly learned the monologues and miniatures he performed by heart. And to this day the aphorisms promulgated by Raikin are repeated. Various authors have written for it over the years, sometimes brilliant, sometimes quite mediocre. But Raikin knew how to make the dullest text expressive and funny. At the same time, his manner was rather characterized by the well-known St. Petersburg restraint. Today, when the so-called colloquial stage has turned into a parade of exemplary vulgarity, the skill and subtle taste of Arkady Raikin’s performances are valued almost higher than during the actor’s lifetime. Raikin Sr. was adored and scolded, accepted and banned, tolerated, but quoted throughout the country - both at meetings in party offices and among ordinary people. When 30 years ago - on December 17, 1987 - the actor’s life was cut short, it seemed that the reality at which he mercilessly laughed was fading into history, and the country was on the verge of great changes. Today, the monologues of an artist who sincerely believed that art can change life for the better sound more relevant than ever.

Raikin's style became the talk of the town. Easy at first glance and principled in essence, he ironically, intelligently and at the same time sharply and harshly ridiculed in his monologues and feuilletons the vices of people, the system and the time, denouncing fools and fools, the sausage shortage and careerist bosses, the lack of nuts, life “through connections” and “the right people.”

At the instigation of Raikin, young Odessa residents moved to Leningrad and became artists of his theater: Mikhail Zhvanetsky, Roman Kartsev, Viktor Ilchenko and Lyudmila Gvozdikova. Vladimir Polyakov, Mark Azov, Viktor Ardov, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Semyon Altov, Evgeny Schwartz and many others wrote for Raikin.

A holiday man, Raikin never asked for awards, but received them in full at the end of his life. At the age of 57 he became a People's Prize, at 69 - a laureate Lenin Prize, at 70 - Hero of Socialist Labor. In Leningrad, meanwhile, he was considered an anti-Soviet.

Five years before his death, when relations with the local authorities completely deteriorated, Raikin, with the permission of his ardent admirer General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, moved with the theater to Moscow. Later the theater was renamed “Satyricon”, and after the death of Raikin Sr., his father’s work was continued by his son Konstantin.

We met somewhere, 1954

A witty parody of numerous Soviet officials, filmed according to the script by Vladimir Polyakov. Main character comedy - artist Gennady Maksimov (first main role Arkady Raikin) - goes with his wife, pop artist (Lyudmila Tselikovskaya) on vacation to Crimea. At the last moment, the wife is called to the theater - a sick actress needs to be replaced - and taken off the train. Maksimov is first left alone, and then completely lags behind the train. In a foreign city (the station was filmed in Yevpatoria), he meets all kinds of people.

Quotes: “I thought what another deception, it turned out - optical”, “In this spirit, in this context”, “Culture is inside a person, and if it is not there, then there is no ticket to Bolshoi Theater or you can’t buy it with pompous talk”, “Aren’t you at all bothered by this... what’s his name, I keep forgetting this word... conscience?”, “Sometimes you can defeat people with their own weapons: for example, indifference”, “No one saves anyone, chase no, there is no football either, children under sixteen are allowed entry - what a picture this is! I’d rather buy two servings of ice cream!”

In the Greek Hall, 1970

One of the most popular monologues written by Mikhail Zhvanetsky for Arkady Raikin.

Quotes: “They gave these women two days off and they went crazy. They kill time at random,” “I thought of a museum as a museum. And this is not a museum, but worse than a diner: There is no hot food, just cheese and coffee,” “...Who is Apollo?.. Am I Apollo? He is Apollo. Well, let's go Apollo...", "This italian painting seventeenth century! “You don’t understand,” I say, “I’m not asking you where you got the painting, I’m asking, “is there a corkscrew?”

The magical power of art, 1970

A former student helps an elderly teacher rehabilitate her boorish neighbors in a communal apartment, using their own methods. In the film directed by Naum Birman, based on the script by Viktor Dragunsky, Raikin played himself. The film includes three short stories: “Avengers from 2nd B”, “Hello, Pushkin!” and “The Magical Power of Art.”

Quotes: “The main thing in this world is to remain human, and against any rudeness, sooner or later, there will be a reliable crowbar. For example, the same rudeness”, “Out of principle I’ll change!”, “Wash? - Not nobles. You will wash in the kitchen... Well, on May 1st, on New Year- to the bathhouse, if you feel like it, of course...", "The bath is good, deep! And we’ll pickle cucumbers in it for the winter! Wow!, a snack for my brother...", "We didn’t say goodbye to you... Oh, what happened to you? Have you changed something in your face? There’s no way you’re going to get sick...”, “Well, it’s okay, not Countess...”.

Shortage, 1972

A colorful and vibrant parody of grocery store sellers and thrift stores- in times of total shortage Soviet Union trade workers felt powerful and successful.

Quotes: “Everything is heading towards the fact that everything will be everywhere, there will be abundance! But will it be good?”, “You come to me, I got the shortage through the warehouse manager, through the store director, through the merchandiser, through the back porch!”, “Listen, no one has it - I have it!” You tried it - you were speechless!”, “The taste is specific!”, “You respect me. I respect you. You and I are respected people."

About education, 1975

Another famous miniature, broken down into quotes. Talks about parents, their types, morals and psychologists, who have their own point of view on everything.

Quotes: “Each person has his own truth”, “Comrade fathers and comrades, roughly speaking, mothers!”, “The main thing is to give birth to a child.”